Lath-machine.



T. H. HYDE.

LATH MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, 1914.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

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I I INVENTOR Q a Ma WITN ESS ES m T. H. HYDE.

LATH MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 23. 19M.-

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' T. H. HYDE,-

LATH MACHINE. APPLICATION FIL ED JULY 23, 1914.

1,178,853. PatGIItGdA 1,1916.

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INVENTOR THOMAS HENRY HYDE, OF NEW KENSINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

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- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

Application filed July 23, 1914 Serial No. 852,577.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS HENRY HYDE, a resident of- New Kensington, in the county of Westmoreland and State of Penn-. sylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lath-Machines, of which 1 the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine for expanding sheet metal for the production 10' ble and free from intricate and delicate parts which are liable to be broken and get out of adjustment, and, furthermore, a ma chineso constructed that any individual part may be quickly removed for repair and replaced by another whereby the production of" the machine can be kept up practically to-its full limit.

For the attainmentof the above and other objects the invention comprises a machine constructed, arranged and combined as hereinafter described and claimed.

. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine, portions be.- ing broken out to economize space; Fig. 2 is in part an end view and in part a transverse vertical section through the machine; Fig. 3 is a front elevation showing five units of the machine on an enlarged scale with a portion of the expanded metal produced thereby; Fig. 4.- is a detail view of the mechanism for driving the bottom rolls; Fig. 5 is a detail view of the bearing for the worm shaft; Figs. 6 and 7 are detail views of an uppercutter; and Fig. 8 is a plan view of the product produced by the machine.

' The machine is composed of a number of sections, each of which is a unit and a practically complete machine in itself and capable of performing its own oflice independently of the other sections or units. Consequently, any breakage requires merely the repairing of the individual section or unit.

The several sections or units are driven from a common source of power and are all mounted upon a suitable base or foundation- 1. Each section or unit comprises a frame 2 in which is mounted an upper shaft 3 carrying the slitting and expanding cutters 4, 4 and a bottom spindle 5 carrying a pair of coiiperating feeding and anvil rolls 6, 6. The machine illustrated is a double swung downwardly out of machine, namely, one operating upon both edges of the sheet simultaneously and. consequently the cutters and feed or anvilrolls are arranged in pairs asillustrated. The

shaft 3 is mounted in a rear'bearing 7 and an Intermediate bearin 8 in the frame 2, and lts outer end whic carries the: cutters 4, 4 is overhung by the frame member 9 from which depends a bearing member 10 for the extreme outer end of shaft 3.- This bearing member 10 is carried by the swing- 'ing arm 11 pivoted to the frame at 12, and having an end portion 13 pivoted at 14 and embracing the bearing 10. This construct1on enables the arm 11 to be swung outwardly to release the bearing 10 from the v end of shaft 3.

The bottom spindle 5 has its inner end mounted in an upright bearing member 15 and its outer end supported by a bearing 16 which is carried by a swinging arm 17 pivoted at 18 and havin an *end portion 19 pivoted at 20 and in which the bearing 16 is mountedso that this arm can be readily the way to release the spindle 5.

The cutters 4, 4 are keyed or otherwise suitably secured to a sleeve 22 which is nonrotatably secured in any suitable way to the upper shaft 3 so that said cutters rotate with said shaft. The feed rollers 6 and 6 are suitably secured to a sleeve '23 which is rotatable on the bottom spindle 5, although, if desired, said sleeve may be non-rotatably secured to the spindle 5. It is preferred,

however, to rotate the sleeve on the spindle,

leaving the latter non-rotatable, as thereby the bearings at the inner and outer ends of said'spindle can be made shorter than would otherwise be the case. I

At the entrance end of the machine, that is, the end, at which the unslitsheet enters the machine, the feed rolls 6 and 6 are driven, but toward the rear end of the machine these rolls are not positively driven,

gitudinally of the machine and mounted in.

. suitable bearings 28 and extending to the gear 33 on a" transverse inclined shaft 34 extending .to the rear side of the machine where' it is in turn provided with a bevel gear meshing with a similar gear 36 on the drive; shaft 37. The shaft 34 at its forward end is mounted in a yoke 38, in the end of whose arms the countershaft 31 is mounted and at its rear end is mounted in a similar yoke 39 whose ends are mounted on the drive shaft 37. The bearings 28 are movable in order to permit the 'shaft 27 to be dropped when the spindles 5 are lowered, as when changing rollers 6, 6 This may beefl'ectedin any. suitable way, such as by providing a wedge 41 (Fig. 5), which when withdrawn by screw 42, allows the bearing to be lowered.

The drive shaft 37 is arranged longitudinally of the machine at the rear thereof, being mounted in suitable bearings 44 secured to the base of foundation 1. This shaft can be driven by any suitable means, either a motor 45 or by belt or otherwise from a suitable source of power. In addition to the bevel gear 36 said drive shaft 37 is provided at intervals with a number of bevelgears 46, each'of which meshes with abevel gear 47. Each of the upper shafts or spindles 3 carries a spur gear 48, and said gears of adjacent shafts or spindles are connected by an intermediate idler 49. The bevel gears 47 are carried by certain ones of the rollers 49. Preferably a connection 46, 47 and 48 from the drive shaft 37 to the upper spindles or shafts 3 is provided for each five units or sections of the machine, but obviously this -can be varied as desired or convement.

-The several sections when assembled, and

driven as described form in effect a continuous mill intowhich the fiat sheet is entered and from which it emerges in a completely The cutters and feed rollers of the first or entering pair are spaced apart the maximum distance, so as to form the slits and expansions simultaneously at both edges of the sheet. Each succeeding set of cutters, and also of the cooperating feeding and anvil rolls, is set inwardly a distance equal to the width of-the strand, so that toward the exit end of the machine the cutters of each pair become closer and closer together, until finally atthe end or exit pair there is practically an integral double cutter, and only a single anvil roll. This is one reason-why the feed and anvil rolls at the exit end of the machine cannot be positively driven. Another .ing expanded sheet. The sheet as it passes through the rolls and is slit and expanded drops off on both sides in somewhat inclined direction, as indicated in dotted lines at 50.

Each of the cutting and expanding rolls 4, 4 comprises a suitable ring-shaped bodyprovided on its periphery with the curved cutting projections 51, which serve to slit the metal and press the same down in a curved form, as indicated at 52. The spaces or throats 53 between adjacent projections 51 provide for the unslit portions or bonds 54 which unite the several strands. The product produced by these cutters has the several strands in are or curved form, producing a fabric such as shown in Fig. 8.

The fabric produced is not a diamond-mesh an arch, thereby giving a stilfer sheet than ordinary diamond-mesh lathing, and enabling a lighter sheet to be used. F urthermore, the curved formation of the cutting projections prevents to a considerable'extent the deformation of the meshes which occurs in the manufacture of a diamond-mesh fabric. In machines of this type the sheet trav-' els at the rate of what may be called the pitch lineof the cutters, While the extreme end portions of the cutting projections travel at .a greater rate of speed,being at a greater distance from the center of rotation. With angular shaped projections such as used ,in the manufacture of diamond-mesh fabrics, the angular end portions due to their greater peripheral travel more or, less deform the mesh, while curved cutting projections, as shown, rotate or slide to some extent in the mesh, without deforming the latter to the same extent as with angular cutting projections.

The sheet as it emerges from the machine may be passed immediately into a set of flattening rollers for the purpose of removing any buckling that may have been produced in the operation of the machine.

uch flattening rollers are shown in m prior Patent No.- 1,057,346, March 25, 1913, and are therefore neither illustrated nor described herein.

The machine described is of simple and strong construction, being free'from delicate or intricate parts which are liable to break or get out of adjustment. Furthermore, all of the wearing parts, and particularly the cutters and feeding or anvil rolls are readily accessible for removal, interchange or repair. The cutting instrumentalities are conso that the cutters are more than a short. time. The machine is double, acting upon both edges of the sheet at once, thereby having a maximum output,

their peripheral form, so that the shape of the mesh of the finished sheet remains the same regardless of the' number of times the cutters may be ground. The two upper cutters of each pair are spaced apart a distance the width of two strands less than the distance between the preceding set of cutters and form a gage for bringing the cutters to their correct position transversely of the machine. The keyways keying the cutters to theirshafts have the same relative position in all of the sections or units always correctly spaced radially.

The front side of the machine is entirely open so that the finished sheet is free at all times and there is no chance for the work becoming tangled or liable to choke or to hang on any of the machine parts. The machine is capable of expanding metal of any weight or. gage, and the expanded sheet has a selvage edge on both sides, and also a rib or unexpanded portion at its center.

. What I claim is 1. In a machine for expanding metal, the combination of a plurality of rotary cutters arranged in pairs in converging series, a plurality of cooperating feed rolls arranged in pairs between said cutters and having edges cooperating with the cutting faces of said cutters, and driving means for said feed rollers connected thereto between the rolls of each pair.

2. In a machine for expanding metal, the

combination of a plurality of rotary cutters to said feed rolls between the roller of each pair.

3. In a machine for expanding metal, the combination of a frame, an upper shaft carrying a rotary cutter, a bottom spindle journaled at one end in said frame, a movable bearing for the other end of said spindle, a roll on said spindle cooperating with said cutter, and driving means connected to said spindle intermediate said frame and movable bearing.

4. In a machine for expanding metal, the combination of a frame, an upper 'driven shaft, a cutter carried thereby, a bottom spindle journaled in said frame, a roll thereon cooperating with said cutter, a swinging movable bearing for the outer end of said spindle, and a driving shaft connected to said spindle between said frame and movable bearing.

5. In a machine for expanding metal, the combination of a series of transverse rotary shafts, two cutters carried by each of said shafts, a series of bottom spindles, pairs of rolls mounted thereon and cooperating with said cutters, a longitudinally arranged drive shaft geared to said transverse shafts, a longitudinally arranged countershaft below said spindles and geared to said r01ls,'between the rolls of said pairs, and a driving connection from said driving shaft to said countershaft.

6. In a machine for expanding metal, a

series of transverse shafts, pairs of cutters carried thereby, a series of spindles below said shafts, pairs of rolls mounted on. said spindles and cooperating with said cutters, a longitudinally arranged countershaft geared to the rolls of said spindles between the rolls of said pairs, a longitudinally arranged drive shaft geared to said transverse shafts, and a bevel-gear-and-shaft connectipnftfrom said drive shaft to said counters a In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

THOMAS HE Witnesses:

GLENN H. Lmmscrm, WILLIAM B. WHARTON.

Y HYDE. 

